United States President Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which he says will end the 12-day conflict in stages over the next 24 hours.
While an Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, there has been no comment from Israel at the time of publication.
A senior White House official said Israel had agreed to a ceasefire so long as Iran does not launch any further attacks.
It’s understood Trump made a call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate, while Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Iran’s agreement to a deal.
US vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff also held direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, according to Reuters.
Trump appeared to suggest Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are underway, at which point the ceasefire would start in a staged process.
“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both countries, Israel and Iran, on having the stamina, courage, and intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR’,” he wrote on social media.
Hours earlier, three Israeli officials had signalled Israel was looking to wrap up its campaign in Iran soon and had passed the message on to the US.
Netanyahu had told government ministers, whose discussions ended early on Tuesday, not to speak publicly, Israel’s Channel 12 television reported.
Is this the end of the fighting?
After his ceasefire announcement, Trump told NBC News the deal is “unlimited. It’s going to go forever”.
But there does not appear to be calm yet in the region.
The Israeli military has issued two evacuation warnings in less than two hours to residents of areas in the Iranian capital Tehran, one late on Monday and another early on Tuesday.
Israeli Army Radio reported early on Tuesday alarms were activated in the southern Golan Heights area due to fears of hostile aircraft intrusion.
Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would encourage Israel to proceed towards peace after dismissing Iran’s attack on a US air base that caused no injuries and thanking Iran for the early notice of the strikes.
Iran’s attack came after US bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-busters on Iranian underground nuclear facilities over the weekend, joining Israel’s air war against Iran in a conflict that has entered its 12th day.
This is a developing story and this article will be updated.
